Monday, April 13, 2009

These Things Are Priceless

That was the kind of trip that absolutely needed to be taken, glad I was able to go and help, taught me many things - most of them good - had a great time, was the sort of thing that happens only once in your life, and when it's over, feels SO FREAKIN' good to come home.

Seriously.

There are some things I can't remember about the trip.

There are some things I don't WANT to remember about the trip.

There are some things I would LOVE to tell you, but my father's head would explode should my mother let him know that I wrote it where other people could see it.

These being the restrictions, I will relate only the best parts. The things that I enjoy remembering. The flight up was simple - though it started awfully early in the morning for me - the finding and procuring the rental car was tres easy and getting to SO's house was none too difficult. The drive across the border into The Frozen North was uneventful and the actual crossing was not as complicated as it could have been. We made the ferry earlier than anticipated and were in town before the sun set. This meant we could start rooting through the items in the garage and setting aside the things we wanted to save.

That was Thursday.

Friday was one long series of runs from the house to the thrift store. Yay Sallie Ann! Seven to be exact, with a whole lot of dust, dampness - it was threatening to rain the entire weekend - and mildew. Fun.

Saturday was like Thursday, only in reverse. And the border crossing took much longer. No problems, just the border guard was multitasking and thus not able to devote his attention to those of us wanting to leave The Frozen North. This was the line of cars when we got there:

It was much longer behind us before we got on our way again. There was much time to ponder the Peace Arch that guards the border. I was highly amused by it:

Fortunately the weather held out for us and we made good time getting to the airport and home again.

That is a brief summary of our trek. The best stuff was, in a large part, the food. All the treasures from my childhood that I hadn't thought of for years.

Friday, during one of our stops for boxes we purchased Ketchup chips to be brought home:

Now, if you come to Ketchup chips as an adult, as Tarzan did, I completely understand the initial recoil of horror at the name. They sound disgusting. BUT. If one grows up with them, as I did, it's like coming home, to have them on the shelf again, if only for a little while.

Saturday morning we ate Shreddies for breakfast:

They LOOK like Wheat Chex but they soooooo aren't.

And before we left town we HAD to stop at the greatest donut shop in the world. Tim Horton's:

Not just for the donuts, though those are fantastic:

All the flavors that they have. I seriously didn't know there was another kind of apple fritter until I was 21. Still think they should all be like Tim Horton's apple fritters. But the Timbits:

Donut holes that come in the same varieties as the full grown donuts. So, so good. Totally worth it just for the Timbits.